"We're here!"
Kyle found himself standing in front of a building with a banner on each side of the entrance. The banners each had some kind of symbol on them that appeared to resemble two figures facing each other with something pointed up. A young woman with navy-blue hair, who seemed to resemble a dorm mother, was sweeping the ground near the entrance. As she looked up, she appeared to be frowning at the two of them. But when they started walking closer, she appeared to have focused most of her attention on Asuka, who simply smiled like nothing was wrong.
"What do you want?" She asked in a rude tone.
"I'm here to talk to Shiroyasha about something." Asuka casually replied.
"Shiroyasha-sama cannot talk to anyone right now, and even if she could, I would like to respectfully refuse the right to allow either of you to meet with her."
"Oh? But we are valued customers here."
"Yes, but you are also troublesome and, quite frankly, a distraction to Shiroyasha from her main duties. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if you ruin Shiroyasha's reputation for helping out [No Names] like you."
"That's not a very good way to treat customers…"
"You aren't customers at the moment, so I do not need to show any respect to people like you…"
Sparks flew between the two ladies as the air around them started to turn cold. Kyle was simply listening to the conversation, but with the "go away" attitude that this young woman appeared to be showing, it seems that she isn't exactly on friendly terms with the [No Names]. He sighed to himself as he decided to save some time.
"Excuse me…" he said to grab their attention. As the two of them turned to face him, he gently grabbed the young woman's hand while he spoke.
Asuka watched as Kyle casually talked with the shop clerk while keeping a straight face. He would occasionally smile while giving some kind of explanation, mixed along with some compliments and respectful comments. The shop clerk tried to stay calm and professional, but she noticed that the blue-haired women would be taken aback and occasionally blush from some of his comments. She took note that the boy in black appeared to be good with persuasion as the shop clerk gave a slight bow and went inside.
"Oh? So that's the kind of woman you're into?" Asuka asked as she gave a devilish smile.
Kyle turned his head towards Asuka while keeping a good-natured smile on his face.
"While she is beautiful, I just thought it would've saved us a lot of time to appeal to her since it seems your community caused some trouble for her in the past."
"Well it's true that we've been quite troublesome for her, but I don't think you needed to go that far since Shiroyasha would've probably let us in anyways."
"Regardless, I still wanted to show my respect to keep at least some trust between us. You would never know when something like this might come in handy"
"I see…"
Suddenly, the young woman returned.
"It seems Shiroyasha is willing to talk to the both of you." Her face was still a bit red, but she didn't seem to be as uncomfortable as before.
Kyle gave a respectful bow. "Thank you for your generosity."
After walking inside, the two of them followed the hallway as they began to hear a scream near the end.
"Shiroyasha you idiot!"
A figure started running out of the door in a very fast pace. The two of them sidestepped away while taking a quick glance at the figure, who appeared to be half-naked with some kind of maid uniform on.
"Wait a minute! I haven't finished with your costume yet!"
A smaller, younger-looking girl with pure white hair and a kimono-like attire had skidded from the doorway and started chasing after the other figure. Kyle was somewhat surprised by this turn of events, but he kept a straight face while turning to Asuka, who simply shook her head while holding her hands up. The white-haired young girl slowly returned with a disappointed look on her face, dragging her feet along while mumbling something inaudible.
"Um…Shiroyasha-san…" Asuka hesitantly spoke. Shiroyasha's face immediately brightened as she turned to see the young "ojou-sama" facing in her direction.
"My my, if it isn't Asuka of the [No Names]! What are you doing here?" she brought out a fan and started waving it with a smirk. "Could it be that you're here to model for me?!"
"That's not it!" Asuka denied wholeheartedly as her face went red. "I'm here because someone asked me to bring you here!"
"Yo!" Kyle raised his hand as he greeted the young loli, who turned to him with a curious look.
"I see, so you're one of the newest recruits for Kurousagi's community."
The three of them were sitting in a very classic-style Japanese room, complete with tatami mats, sliding paper doors, seat cushions, and a sort of makeshift shrine in the back using a scroll, flowers, and a small stone object that one would see in temples. Shiroyasha was sitting near the back while the other two were sitting on the opposite side. The smell of incense filled the air, along with some kind of faint sweet scent that lingered along, possibly because of the previous guest.
"And you said you want to take up odd jobs to earn extra money and benefits for your guild outside of [Gift Games]?"
"Yes." Kyle nodded. "I would like to get an idea of what the area is like, but I would prefer to learn while taking a job and earn something while doing so. I don't have any intention on playing in too many [Gift Games], so I would like to help out in other ways…"
"My, you seem much more serious than the other three children. Of course I don't understand what good that does for me." Her eyes began to steel. "You see, I've had Kurousagi ask me something very similar to this request back before any of you children came by. Of course, I was able to have her pay me back handsomely by dressing up in the many costumes I've given her, however…" She slammed the ground with her palms in a serious manner. "I DON'T HAVE ANY INTEREST IN SEEING GUYS IN DIFFERENT COSTUMES! ACTUALLY, I DON'T HAVE ANY INTEREST IN SEEING A GUY'S BODY PERIOD! WHY THE HELL SHOULD I FIND WORK FOR YOU AT ALL?!"
Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that more like indulging in your hobbies? I'm not sure how that really matters to how I can get some odd job here and there…"
"Ah, that's right. Sorry, I was a bit distracted there…" Shiroyasha gave a slight cough before continuing in a more calm tone. "The truth is that odd jobs and work that would earn you benefits are actually very rare in [Little Garden]. Very few communities are willing to ask for help from other guilds, and very little criminal activity openly occur, outside of the [Demon Lords], in which nothing can really be done about it."
"I see…" Kyle expected something like this to happen. [Gift Games] seems to be essentially the law in this world, so even "criminal activity" is considered "legal" as long as it's done through [Gift Games]. He remembered Kurousagi mentioned something about people "exploding" if they break rules or something like that, and it seems like "enforcers" are available nearby in each level, so upholding "peace" isn't really a problem either.
"Just a moment," Asuka spoke up. "Then how did the [No Names] get by before we came?"
Shiroyasha smiled. "Actually, Kurousagi was given the privilege of [Judge Master] from the start. She'd act as judge for many different kinds of [Gift Games] in exchange for an occasional fee and aid from yours truly."
"Then I assume it would be impossible for Kyle to take up a job as [Judge Master]?"
"Exactly. [Judge Master] is more of a 'chosen duty' instead of an assignment, and even then, very few actually follow up, or are even allowed to become one. In Kurousagi's case, she needed the money to support the community, so she didn't have much of a choice in the matter."
"I see…" Asuka was slightly crestfallen as she imagined how difficult things must have been for the [No Names] back then. "I didn't realize how troubling things must have been for everyone…"
"Well back to the original matter…" Shiroyasha turned to Kyle with a slight frown. "The point is that I can't really help you in this case. The only other way to earn benefits is to participate in [Gift Games] or sell us [Gifts] that you've collected."
Kyle just sat thinking for a moment before he started to stand up.
"I guess there's no other way then…" he bowed in front of the kimono loli. "Thank you for telling me this…" he turned to help Asuka up.
"It's fine…" Shiroyasha responded while waving her fan in an indifferent way. "Feel free to come by when you feel like you need some info or something. I don't mind as long as you manage to keep things interesting…"
After saying goodbye, the two of them left with Asuka leading Kyle back to their community.
"Well, I guess it wasn't very helpful to come here after all…" Asuka crossed her arms while pinching her forehead. "All we ended up doing was waste time…"
"I guess so…" Kyle rubbed the back of his neck while looking to the side.
After they left, Shiroyasha was staring at the spot that the boy named Kyle was sitting at just moments ago, grinning to herself.
"So, the [No Names] have gotten several new members again. Perhaps this will help me alleviate more of my boredom…"
"Shiroyasha-sama," She turned to see the young woman from the entrance standing in the hall. "It appears that there's someone else here to see you…"
"My my, so many visitors in such a short time?" She silently laughed to herself. "Very well, let them in…"